Citizens Lead Cleanup Of Brittany Woods In Gloucester Township

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Carolyn Grace took a look around her neighborhood. Brittany Woods, a complex of 388 townhomes, is centered in the middle of several clean, prestigious neighborhoods. When she looked around, though, she saw a mess of a complex.

“Why can’t we make it better?” she wondered to herself.

Shirley Johnson has been living in Brittany Woods since 1981. There used to be four parks, as well as a tire park, but they are all gone now. She now sees children playing in the streets and recognizes the safety hazards.

“The kids need a place to play,” she said.

Grace and Johnson joined forces in July of last year. They and three others formed the Brittany Woods Community Action Group. Their goal was to clean up the neighborhood, bring back a playground for the children and fill some of the vacant and boarded up houses that were a blight on their streets.

“I started doing little things, and then Shirley Johnson contacted me,” Grace said. “She had similar concerns. I realized this is not just about my concerns anymore.”

Grace, a social worker in the school district, described the neighborhood as dirty. She said there was trash on the ground, people weren’t putting their trash cans away and some people just weren’t keeping their property clean.

“They weren’t concerned about the aesthetics,” Grace said. “There were abandoned properties and boarded up houses. Why would someone move into a community where there were so many boarded up homes?”

She said on her street alone there were 13. Then her group took action. They began delivering flyers and newsletters to the other members of their community. Each member of the group attacked a different issue, including curbside appeal, power washing, keeping the back of homes clean and bringing back a park.

They had a leaf cleanup, which Grace said Lowe’s helped with. Lowe’s also donated four mailboxes to the group at a rate of $56. The regular price is $76, she said.

The group would also find people who didn’t own a lawnmower find someone to cut their grass for them. In April, they hosted a massive cleanup, and about 30 kids and some adults showed up to help. Now, things are looking cleaner around Brittany Woods.

“When we first started, Shirley and I would go around and pick up the trash in the street and on the lawns,” Grace said. “We each had two large trash bags full. Now we do it and we have two small plastic shopping bags.”

There were 27 vacant homes. One year later, that number has been cut in half, and the 13 on Grace’s street are all occupied now. Grace believes people are moving in and renting because they see a cleaner neighborhood.

Soon, the children will have a place to play.

After months of communicating with council by email and by attending meetings, the group got Gloucester Township officials to commit to building a playground in Brittany Woods. Johnson said the township has roped off a large portion of land to put the playground in, and it is expected to be fully installed by the first weekend of August, weather permitting.

She just hasn’t seen what it looks like yet, but that’s not a problem. She called it a step in the right direction. She also said she will continue to join Grace at the council meetings to make sure the township doesn’t forget about Brittany Woods, as she said it had previously.

Both are grateful for the help they’ve received from the township. They say officials are always attentive to their needs, and the mayor has come out to visit them twice. However, more still needs to be done. Two of the volunteers are in school pursuing their Master’s Degrees and are no longer able to help the group, which is now an official non-profit. They are looking for more volunteers who are committed to helping to improve Brittany Woods. Grace said they are specifically looking for men to help with multiple things, including the installation of mailboxes.

They also continue to ask the township for help, particularly when it comes to ensuring residents follow the township’s ordinances.

While the township has helped, Brittany Woods is an example of concerned community members making a difference, and they’re looking for more to volunteer to help make a difference.

To join the effort, email graciege@tbwcag.com, call 856-628-7878, visit the Brittany Woods Community Action Group Facebook page or visit the Brittany Woods Sicklerville Group on nextdoor.com.

Attached image posted on the Brittany Woods Community Action Group Facebook page